In a study of more than 180 million adults, individuals who perceived that stress affects their health and reported a large amount of stress had an increased risk of premature death. The good news? You can control this. 

By changing your perception of a stressful event into a learning experience, or even a new challenge, you’ll avert long-term health effects.

When evaluating your stress, distinguish between daily hassles and life events

You may chalk up your commute or stressful morning routine to something you just have to deal with. But these small stressors over time really add up. It’s important to think about the daily hassles that add stress symptoms to your life and try to eliminate or change as many as possible.

Stress management is individual

Think about the last time you were stressed. What helped YOU? Was it a run? Was it a massage? A yoga class? Venting to a friend? Develop a list of ways to manage stress that work specifically for you. Use this list to optimize your plan of attack next time you’re experiencing stress symptoms.